Trust and Truth are Mirrors of Reality

Trust, a mirror, is

a fragile thing; once broken,

it can't be restored.

"William."

"Yes?" Looking up at Candice's familiar face, I blinked as I sipped a glass of water.

She never called me by my full first name.

"I have something to tell you."

Candice Rosia. My wife of more than fifteen years. My high-school sweetheart. The girl of my dreams. The mother of 'my' child.

"Reagan isn't yours."

Or, at least I had thought so.

As if I didn't notice.

Plastering a surprised expression on my face, I let the glass slip from my fingertips. The shot glass from my hands went clattering to the floor, landing with a crash.

It was a Friday dinner, a usual Friday dinner, in the year of 2019. I had been informed three months ago that the child inside Candice's pregnant stomach likely wasn't mine.

'I tell ya, your Candy's a cheater,' Jerome had fessed up while drunk. 'I caught 'er and 'ole Arie doin' the dirty out back. I didn' wanna tell you so soon, but...everyon' knows...'

Grief. Despair. But most prominently, anger.

So I decided to wait it out. There would be one day to expose the treacherous cheaters to the entire world.

Love can turn into hate so easily.

The whole small town of Terrawoods had known about the adulterous couple, but I had not.

If I had to hate my wife and my best friend for cheating on me, I would have to hate the whole town as well for making me prance around like a laughingstock.

Arie Ranger, my childhood friend, and Candice Rosia, my childhood sweetheart.

Traitors, the whole lot.

"Reagan...isn't mine?" I played along with the charade, letting feelings shock mingle on my expression. "Then..Arie?" I let anger cloud my features as I stood up.

"Calm down, Will..it was an accident..." Candice coaxed me, and I let her. Pah.

I had to bide my time.

Luckily, that had always been what I had been best at...

Two years later

"Do you, Ellie Ailsmeyer, take William Smith to be lawfully wedded husband?"

"Yes, I do."

"And do you, William Smith, take Ellie Ailsmeyer to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." I forced a smile upon my lips, and kissed my new bride.

Ellie Ailsmeyer. She owned me a gargantuan favor from our high school days, and I had taken her up on her offer years later. Ellie was attractive enough, and came from an extremely prestigious background. We had been incredibly close, and we both had no qualms marrying each other. Both were benefiting, either way.

After all, only she knew what I was 'really' like.

'So Candice cheated on you, and you want to expose her?' Ellie had asked.

'I'll take care of the exposing myself,' I had replied. 'All I need is for you to marry me and make it seem like I've moved on.'

Ellie's lips had quirked. 'I would call you pathetic,' she had said, 'but I know the Will I know isn't anything close.'

'You called me a thing,' I had noted. 'I do have feelings, you know.'

'Yes, and because of those feelings you ended up trapped in the <obscenity> that is marriage.' Ellie had snorted. 'But what are you going to do after we get married? What's the next step?'

I had shrugged, carelessly. 'Destroying her, of course. You owe me. Don't forget.' I had looked into Ellie's familiar ice-cold eyes. 'Also don't forget: If you will be in my way, you will be destroyed as well.'

Ellie had snickered. 'Now there's the Will I know and loathe. You were always so fake around that Candice, you know. Like you had a split personality.' A pause. 'Alright, then. I'll accept the deal.'

And, just like that, after forging a year of courtship, I had married after my divorce. Before the courtship, I had of course 'unintentionally' leaked footage of the traitorous couple under an anonymous source. Proceeding with the divorce, I had passed on the guardianship of Reagan onto Arie, who had begged for my forgiveness.

'Will, I really didn' mean to.' He had almost teared up. 'It was jus' an accident, a one-time thing; we were both drunk, and-'

Ha. On all the recordings, you all were perfectly sober.

Liars.

All of them were liars.

After looking up from the emotionless kiss, I saw two, dark hazel eyes boring holes in the back of my head. Two, familiar hazel eyes belonging to my ex-lover who had left me a fool.

They looked full of sorrow and regret, but for the first time I looked past it.

Ellie had been right when she said I had been a whole new person around Candice.

I had shown the fakest and most foolish part of my many personalities around her. I had been stupid.

I'll never make that mistake again.

Flinging an arm around Ellie, I leaned close and whispered, "I'll go deal with Candice for a bit. Hand me the packet."

Ellie obliged silently, handing a small brown, teabag-shaped packet from under her veil. I snatched it from her fingers, pecked her on the cheek for the audience, and retired to the terrace.

I didn't have to wait long.

"Will!"

She sounded breathless, and she swept onto the balcony. Her eyes were teary, her words laced with self-deprecation. The words from her lips faded into the background as I handed her a glass of wine. Concerningly listening to her, I let my face force regret.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I really couldn't hear a thing, but I replied accordingly with a choked-up, "I regret it too."

Seconds ticked into minutes as I raised my glass. "Well, let's toast, my Candy. To the reveal of the truth, and...to love."

I saw triumph flash across her face before she nodded desperately. "Yes, to love."

As she downed the champagne glass, I smiled, fingering the empty packet behind me.

"I love you so much."

A lie.

Words, like mirrors, have

two sides, what can be seen, and

what lies underneath.

--the end--